


The Female of the Species

by Anthemyst



Series: Dangerous Beings [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, agreste family angst, but mostly just the family angst probably, with a side of kinky gabenath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-10-30 21:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10884930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Sequel toA Wolf by the Ear.As soulmate relationships went, Nathalie and Gabriel's was probably one of the messiest ones of all time. But despite her misgivings about soulmates in general, Nathalie was finally letting herself believe the bumps in the road were behind her, that she and Gabriel might actually begin to live happily ever after together.Nathalie really should have known better.





	1. Chapter 1

Nathalie Sancoeur entered her soulmate’s office. Walking briskly up to his desk, she placed a business card on its surface and slid it into his field of vision with one perfectly manicured nail. Blinking, Gabriel squinted at the card for a moment, then looked up at his former assistant, eyebrow raised. “Really?” he asked.

“Your appointment is next Thursday,” she replied firmly.

“This seems a little sudden.”

“On the contrary, it is long overdue. And you said if I found someone trustworthy, you’d go.” Nathalie folded her arms. “You know how good I am at vetting people. Believe me, this woman is trustworthy. Not only is she highly respected in her field, with every accolade imaginable, but she’s also had a number of clients in the public eye before. Not a single detail from any of her sessions has ever found its way into the tabloids. She’s discreet, Gabriel.”

Gabriel sighed. “There are a number of things I cannot tell her no matter how discreet she is.”

“True. All the same, I think you and Adrien have enough mundane issues to work through that she should be good for at least a dozen visits or so.”

“I suppose,” Gabriel admitted begrudgingly. “What did Adrien say when you told him?”

“I haven’t,” Nathalie replied. “I thought it would be better if it came from you. Don’t give me that look,” she added, annoyed. “I’m thrilled to be a bigger part of Adrien’s life, you know I am, but I’m done acting as your liaison to your son, Gabriel. If you can’t even handle broaching the subject of family counseling, how on earth will you handle actually going to the first appointment?”

Gabriel looked deeply uncomfortable with the idea of either prospect, but he nodded slowly. “You’re right,” he said. “I shall bring the matter up with him this afternoon. Will you be on hand, at least, in case damage control is necessary?”

“I’m afraid not,” Nathalie said. “I’m on my way out, actually, I have that _interview_.” Nathalie wasn’t quite able to suppress an eye-roll. It was the last thing she wanted to be doing, and Gabriel was as annoyed as she was about it, but it was for a high-end fashion magazine and it was of the utmost importance that the Gabriel brand continue to maintain a friendly relationship with them. There was no getting out of it. Nathalie leaned over the desk and placed a kiss on Gabriel’s forehead. “Don’t be so dramatic,” she murmured. “You’ll be fine. Just… just try not to make it sound like an order, all right?”

Gabriel nodded, then reached up, slid a hand around the back of Nathalie’s head, and pulled her a little bit further down so he could give her a proper kiss.

Well, it started proper, anyway.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Nathalie whispered, when they finally separated. “They’re taking pictures at this thing, you know. I’ll have to completely redo my lipstick.”

 

* * *

 

Nathalie needn’t have bothered; the second she arrived at the studio, a team of makeup artists descended on her and completely redid all her work. It was almost an hour before she was actually sitting down across from her interviewer, Marie Givhan. Marie was an extremely prominent fashion journalist, with whom Nathalie had worked on a number of occasions, though never as the personal subject of a story before.

“Miss Sancoeur, it’s lovely to see you again! Or-may I call you Nathalie during the interview?”

Nathalie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Why not, Marie?” Marie smiled as she sat down across from Nathalie.

“Excellent. Let’s just, I’ll make sure the lighting,” Marie looked over Nathalie’s shoulder at some of the crew. “It’s good?” she asked. “And the,” she gestured, not so subtly, to Nathalie’s back, “yes? Good? Okay, great.” Marie turned back to Nathalie, grinning. “Ready to begin?”

“Of course,” Nathalie said, shoving aside every instinct she had that was screaming at her to grab her blazer and cover up. Nathalie had been told, in no uncertain terms, to wear something that showed off the soulmark, so she had. She’d already bought several blouses over the past five months that accentuated it quite nicely, she thought, but she’d only ever worn them at home. Only ever worn them for Gabriel. Out in public, with something so personal on display for the world to see, Nathalie felt, well, naked. She tried to ignore the camera flashes behind her.

“Wonderful! Alright, question one,” Marie glanced down at her notepad, then looked back at Nathalie, “when’s the wedding?”

Nathalie actually laughed out loud at that, a rare sound, but she stopped abruptly when she noticed Marie’s confused expression. “Oh,” Nathalie said. “You’re serious.”

“Of course.”

Nathalie blinked. “We’ve been together for less than half a year,” she said. “Wedding plans seem a bit hasty. We only just moved in together three weeks ago.”

“Well, perhaps for a normal couple it would be hasty,” Marie admitted, “but when the universe hands you total certainty, why wait?”

Nathalie sighed. She was aware, of course, that soulmarks had a tendency to accelerate the natural timeline of a relationship. However, she and Gabriel had discussed it at length and agreed to keep things at a more natural pace. Nathalie couldn’t exactly reveal why they were more cautious about their relationship than most soulmates, though. “How thoroughly did you research me for this interview?” she asked instead.

“Oh, quite thoroughly,” Marie replied. “Not that I didn’t already know-”

“My childhood? Upbringing?”

“Yes, yes,” Marie flipped through her notes. “Middle-class background, child of divorce, top marks in all your-”

“I gather,” Nathalie interrupted, “that your research didn’t reveal that my divorced parents were also soulmates.”

For a moment, Marie was speechless. “ _Really_?” she finally asked, her eyes slowly lighting up. “That is a fascinating angle, Nathalie. I hope you don’t object to me using it.”

“Please do,” Nathalie said. “You can understand why I’m a bit… skeptical, shall we say, of soulmarks as a result.” Marie nodded. “Not that I have doubts about Gabriel, you understand,” she added quickly. “I’ve known him for years. I just prefer to be careful.”

“Does that bother him?” Marie asked. “Your reluctance?”

“Not at all,” Nathalie replied smoothly. “Caution suits Gabriel Agreste just as well as it suits me. We are soulmates, after all.” Marie grinned. “And he is very busy with his company, of course, so-”

“Much busier now that he doesn’t have you running everything for him, I’m sure,” Marie interrupted.

“I have every faith in my replacement,” Nathalie said immediately, with more conviction than she felt. Not that Claire wasn’t a nice girl, of course she was, but-

“Nathalie, everyone with any connection to the fashion industry knows exactly how much the Gabriel empire depended on you,” Marie said. “You were a force of nature. A one-woman institution.”

“Well,” Nathalie shrugged modestly. “I do still help where I can, of course, albeit much less formally.”

“Honestly, I was shocked you quit at all, knowing you. I know normally a boss/employee relationship is considered inappropriate but, well, considering the circumstances, I doubt anyone would object.”

Nathalie bit back another weary sigh. “The boss/employee relationship is considered inappropriate for a very good reason,” she said slowly. “I don’t think having a soulmark makes a person immune to the rules of common sense, do you?”

“Oh, no, of course not,” Marie said, although Nathalie could tell her point had not been taken. Nobody ever seemed to understand that point, other than Gabriel. People thought if you had a soulmark then the work was done, that no matter what you did your relationship would magically and effortlessly work itself out. How many soulmates were suffering away in silence, Nathalie wondered, too terrified to admit they were unhappy, told over and over again by society that-

 _Focus, Sancoeur_ , Nathalie thought to herself, annoyed. _You came here to maintain a business relationship, not deliver a personal manifesto against all things soulmate_.

“Not that anyone faults you for quitting, of course,” Marie added, laughing. “I’m sure almost every one of our readers would have quit their job, if they’d woken up with the name of the richest man in Paris on their back. It’s a bit like winning the lottery, isn’t it? What did you do first, when you found out that Gabriel Agreste was your soulmate?

 _I broke his nose_. “Planned a trip to DisneyWorld,” Nathalie joked, and laughed along with Marie. “No, really, I was shocked, of course. I mean, we’d worked together for over five years, and I never expected to get a mark myself. I wasn’t really open to seeing our relationship as anything more than strictly professional.”

“And, of course,” Marie added, “he’s married.”

Nathalie paled. “Not for long,” she said carefully.

“Of course.” Marie looked down at her notes. “Was Mr. Agreste trying to secure a divorce already, before the marks appeared? Or was he still attempting to locate his wife?”

“He was…” Nathalie trailed off, trying not to think about what Gabriel had been doing. Why hadn’t she prepared for such a predictable question? “He was taking things one day at a time, I suppose,” she finally said. “I believe he would have been open to reconciliation, had Evelyn returned. All attempts to locate, her, however, have been wildly unsuccessful. Wherever she is, she does not care to be found.”

“Perhaps it’s more sinister than that?”

“Every private investigator Gabriel hired is in total agreement that all evidence points to her leaving of her own free will,” Nathalie replied, and though her voice was perfectly calm, there was an iciness in her gaze that gave her interviewer pause.

“Well,” Marie said hurriedly, “you didn’t come here to discuss your soulmate’s wife, I’m sure. Anyway, between the soulmarks and the team of lawyers Mr. Agreste can no doubt afford, I imagine a divorce won’t take longer than a month, even without Evelyn Agreste’s consent. Hell, he could probably get a full annulment.”

“I don’t think Gabriel will want to take it that far,” Nathalie replied. “Evelyn is still the mother of his son.”

“Ah, yes, his son,” Marie said, clearly grateful for the change in subject. “Tell me about Adrien. What’s your relationship like with him?”

“In many ways, better than the relationship I have with his father,” Nathalie said, forcing herself to smile so that Marie would take it as more of a jest than it actually was. “I’ve known Adrien since he was eleven. It’s been my honor to watch him grow up. I can’t wait for us to grow even closer. But to be honest,” Nathalie dropped her smile, “I’d prefer it if the media didn’t focus quite so much on him. He is still a minor, after all, and in my opinion entitled to far more privacy than he currently enjoys.”

Marie nodded, instantly taking the hint and moving on to her next question. “Tell me about your first date with Mr. Agreste,” she said eagerly. Nathalie bit the inside of her cheek, smiled again, and began talking.

 

* * *

 

By the time Nathalie finally returned from her interview, she was late for dinner. She headed straight to the mansion’s oversized dining room, and wasn't particularly surprised to find Adrien eating there by himself. He smiled as she entered. “Nathalie! How was it?”

“Very personal,” Nathalie replied, removing her coat and sitting down across from the boy, who grinned at her.

“That bad, huh?”

“I don't believe I'll be capable of faking another smile for a month,” she replied dryly. “Where’s your father?”

Adrien shrugged. “Some conference call,” he said, before shoving roughly half a steak into his mouth in one giant bite. Nathalie made a mental note to herself to check with the Agreste chef that the boy was getting enough to eat during the day. With all his various activities and commitments, things like healthy snacking sometimes got overlooked.

“I see,” she said. “Did he-was he around earlier?”

Adrien nodded, swallowing quickly. “Mmhmm. Yeah, he told me all about the therapy thing you put him up to.”

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. “Adrien, I don't think anybody on this earth is capable of putting Gabriel Agreste up to anything he isn't interested in doing.”

Adrien snorted. “Sure, Nat,” he said, but he was grinning. “Don't worry, it’s good. I'm glad he's listening to you.” Adrien quickly finished the last few bites on his plate and got up. “I’m gonna turn in early,” he said, not quite meeting Nathalie’s eye line on his way out of the room. “‘Night, Nat.”

“Goodnight, Adrien,” Nathalie replied, watching as he left and sighing to herself once he was gone. She wasn’t surprised, exactly. Adrien had been regularly “turning in early” in order to sneak out for a long time now. Nathalie hoped that one day Adrien wouldn't feel compelled to leave the house at night, that he'd stop feeling so confined in his own home, but she knew it wasn't something that would fix itself overnight.

 

* * *

 

Nathalie stayed up late reading, waiting for her soulmate to stop working. He finally appeared at their door, almost two hours after midnight, every inch of him exuding exhaustion. “Come back to work,” he said immediately, closing the door behind him.

Nathalie didn't look up from her book. “You're either joking or you're breaking up with me,” she said flatly, “and at this hour I'm not at all sure which I'd prefer.”

“I mean it, Nathalie. You have no idea how desperately I miss having a competent person in my employ.”

“I’m not dating you and working for you at the same time, Gabriel,” Nathalie replied, still not looking up. “I had to explain that to the damn fashion journalist about five times today, I’m not repeating the argument again for your benefit. Especially since you’ve already agreed with it wholeheartedly.”

“That was before I knew what a nightmare working without you would be.” Gabriel climbed into bed, and out of the corner of her eye Nathalie noticed he was far less clothed than he’d been when he entered the room. She looked over the top of her book at the trail of clothing he’d left behind him.

“You dropped your clothes on the _floor_?” Nathalie asked incredulously. “Are you dying?”

In response, Gabriel slid an arm around Nathalie’s waist and pulled her right next to him, before beginning to kiss her neck. “If I’d bothered to put them away properly I wouldn’t be doing this for another ten seconds at least,” he murmured between kisses. “I couldn’t stand the wait. I missed you, Nathalie.”

Nathalie rolled her eyes before closing her book and dropping it on her nightstand. “You’re such a child sometimes, you know that?” she said, before turning onto her side and returning his kisses. “I suppose neither of us had a very good day, then. Want to talk about it?”

“I’m sick of talking. I have to explain everything ten times over, and nobody is capable of making even the simplest of decisions. It’s maddening, Nathalie, you can’t-” Gabriel stopped talking abruptly as Nathalie held a finger up to his lips. After a moment she withdrew it, before gently pushing Gabriel onto his back and leaning over him.

“I’m not coming back to work for you,” she repeated softly, trailing a finger over his bare chest, “but if you’re sick of making decisions, I suppose I could take over that role for the rest of the evening. After all, I didn’t feel particularly in control myself this afternoon, and I could use the palate cleanser.” Nathalie paused, waiting for a response. Gabriel said nothing, but his eyes lit up. “Would you like that?”

Gabriel nodded silently for a few seconds before recovering his powers of speech. “Yes,” he whispered.

Nathalie grinned. “Good.” She climbed on top of him, her legs straddling his chest, and leaned down to kiss him. A moment later his arms were around her, pulling her down to him. Nathalie immediately pulled away and took one of Gabriel’s wrists in each hand before placing them together, against the headboard. “Stay.” Nathalie felt a slight shudder run down the entire length of her lover’s body at the command. He didn’t move a muscle as she leaned to the side, pulling the nightstand drawer open and grabbing an item that had gotten quite a lot of use over the past few months. A minute later, Gabriel’s wrists were both fastened quite securely above his head. He gave a few experimental tugs at the restraints before grinning up at Nathalie.

Wordlessly, Nathalie climbed off of Gabriel, off of the bed, standing up. She pulled her nightshirt off, enjoying the sharp intake of breath she heard as she did so, before turning away from the bed and looking around.

“What are you-”

“Shhh.” Nathalie bent over, and came back up with Gabriel’s iconic tie in hand. “What was that you just said,” she asked, walking back to the bed, “about being sick of talking?” She rolled the tie up into a ball before climbing back on top of Gabriel. “I think I can help you with that.” She shoved the tie in his mouth, and took a moment to admire the sight before leaning down next to Gabriel’s ear. “Do you have any idea,” she whispered, “how much more attractive you become when you’re incapable of talking?”

Gabriel let out a deep chuckle at this, the sound caught in his throat and muffled thanks to the gag. The noise turned into a moan as Nathalie lightly bit his ear, then began to kiss her way down his neck. She continued to kiss her way down him, moving to his collarbone, his chest, his stomach, slowly crawling backwards as she went. Nathalie reached back up to his neck, pressing her fingernails to his skin and lightly scraping them along the trail of kisses, drawing light red lines down him as she went. Then she reached down, drawing her nails up the inside of his thigh, slowly digging them deeper as she drew them higher, higher, until-

Suddenly, Gabriel snapped his fingers loudly, a nonverbal signal they’d agreed upon at the start of their relationship. Nathalie immediately pulled her hand back. “Sorry,” she said, pulling the tie out of his mouth. “I didn’t mean to-”

“You were perfect,” Gabriel interrupted impatiently. “I sensed someone.”

Nathalie froze for a moment, then quickly reached up and untied Gabriel from the headboard. “What do you mean, you _sensed_ someone?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Empathically.”

“You said you lost that ability,” Nathalie said, trying to keep her voice from sounding accusatory. “You said it faded after you surrendered the Miraculous.”

“It did,” Gabriel replied, sitting up. “But there have been occasional flare-ups. I haven’t had one in almost a month, I thought it was completely gone by now, but…” he trailed off, frowning.

“How close are they?”

Gabriel shrugged. “If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn they were right next to us. But I can’t sense anything anymore, it was only for an instant.”

Nathalie’s face went a shade paler. “They couldn’t possibly be in the house,” she said. “The security system is flawless.”

“I’d better check it, in case it’s malfunctioning.” Gabriel grabbed his shirt and pants off the floor and quickly put them on. “Wait here.”

Rolling her eyes, Nathalie grabbed her robe and quickly followed after him. He sighed in exasperation as she caught up to him, but said nothing. The two of them made their way through the dark house. They reached the security control panel, and Gabriel began his usual series of checks.

“Well?” Nathalie finally asked.

“Nothing,” Gabriel murmured. “No sign of malfunction or sabotage, and no sign of anyone on the property.”

Nathalie bit her lip. “Are you _sure_ you felt someone?”

“Yes, but…” Gabriel sighed. “The ability is in its dying throes. Its accuracy could be compromised. For all I know, I was picking up on someone ten blocks away.” He looked back at Nathalie. “I’m sorry I interrupted you for nothing,” he said. “You were… exquisite.”

Nathalie smiled and slid an arm around Gabriel’s waist. “I’m just relieved it was nothing after all,” she said. “And I certainly have no objections to going back upstairs and picking up where I left off.”

Grinning, Gabriel took Nathalie’s hand and began to lead her back to their bedroom without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

Nathalie entered Gabriel’s office next Thursday morning. “Shouldn't you be leaving soon?” she asked. “The appointment is in less than an hour.”

Gabriel looked up from his desk. “Worried I'll try skipping it at the last second?” he asked wryly.

“Not consciously,” Nathalie replied, “but you do have a tendency to get lost in your work.”

“Fair enough.” As Gabriel began calmly putting his papers away, Nathalie looked past him at the wall-or, more specifically, at the painting hanging on the wall.

“Are you going to finally take that thing down once the divorce goes through?” she asked.

“Hm?” Gabriel turned around. “Oh,” he said, looking up at the giant gold portrait. “Yes, I suppose it's far past time. I'll start looking for a more appropriate painting to replace it with.”

“You can't just take it down now?”

“No.” Gabriel stood up and walked over to the painting, pulling it aside and revealing the safe hidden behind it. Nathalie blinked, surprised.

“I had no idea that was there,” she said. “I thought I knew about all the security features of the mansion.”

“This one’s a bit more personal than the others,” Gabriel said, entering the code and opening the safe door. “It contains all the relics of my attempts to locate Evelyn. Receipts, tickets, research.” Nathalie walked over and stood next to Gabriel, examining the contents silently. “And of course, the Miraculous I stole from her.”

Nathalie’s eyes widened. “The _what_?”

“It was a rather flimsy, last-ditch effort to keep her here,” Gabriel replied, sounding more embarrassed than anything else. “I thought if she wouldn't stay for me or Adrien, maybe she'd stay for this. But taking it didn't even slow her down. She said the Miraculouses were weak, nearly useless, that I might as well keep hers for all the good it would do me.”

Nathalie couldn't imagine calling any of the Miraculouses weak, not after living through so much of what they were capable of, but she had a bigger concern. “This whole time,” Nathalie said incredulously, “after that huge gesture I thought you’d made of surrendering your Miraculous, this whole time you've had a second one?”

Gabriel was silent for a moment. “Ah,” he said. “I see. It didn't occur to me that you'd find it troubling, but in retrospect, of course you’d… I haven't used it, though, I assure you. Ever, actually. Even before I found the other one. It was too much Evelyn’s.” Before Nathalie could respond, Gabriel had pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and picked up the Miraculous with it. He quickly wrapped the thing up entirely before offering it to Nathalie. “Here. You're right, I shouldn't have it.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Nathalie picked up the small bundle and dropped it into the purse slung over her shoulder. “I sincerely hope this is the last one under this roof,” she said. “Returning your ill-gotten magical artifacts to their rightful guardian is starting to feel mundane.”

 

* * *

 

“Um… Miss Sancoeur?”

It was several hours later; Gabriel and Adrien had not yet returned, and Nathalie was passing the time reading in one of the mansion’s more sunny sitting rooms. She looked up as Gabriel’s new assistant entered, and briefly wondered to herself why every other word out of Claire’s mouth had the cadence of a question. “Yes, Claire?” Nathalie asked.

“There's, um, someone here-”

“You know when Mr. Agreste will return from his appointment,” Nathalie said, looking back down at her book. “If whoever it is doesn’t want to wait, simply tell them when they might come back to meet with-”

“I tried, Miss Sancoeur, but she insisted on-”

“Hello, Nathalie.”

Nathalie froze. She hadn't heard that voice in two years, but she recognized it instantly. Bracing herself, she looked up at the woman that had just let herself into the room. Immaculately dressed, not a hair out of place, Evelyn Agreste entered the room as though she owned it. Which, Nathalie supposed, she still did. “Evelyn,” Nathalie replied cooly.

“Evelyn?” the woman repeated, almost mockingly. “The last time I saw you, you would have dropped dead before calling me anything other than Mrs. Agreste.”

“Yes, well,” Nathalie calmly closed her book and put it down on the coffee table, “I'd hate to get back in the habit, seeing as how you won't be Mrs. Agreste for very much longer.”

Evelyn’s polite expression didn't change. “Yes, I read about that,” she said calmly. “Congratulations.”

Claire was looking back and forth nervously between the two women as they spoke, and shaking like a leaf. “You can go now, Claire,” Nathalie said, fighting to keep her tone from being condescending.

“Yes, Miss Sancoeur,” the grateful assistant said, nodding before practically fleeing the room.

“So what are you here for, Evelyn?” Nathalie asked once Claire was gone. “Worried you won't get your fair share of Gabriel’s fortune in the divorce?”

Evelyn laughed and walked further into the room, standing just close enough to the couch so as to be looming slightly over Nathalie. “Not at all,” she said. “If what you care about is Gabriel’s money, you can stop worrying. I have no interest in it.”

“Really.”

“Nathalie, money is only important to people like Gabriel, people who have confused it with power. It's a pale substitute, I assure you.”

“I'll take your word for it,” Nathalie said dryly. “So what is it you want? You'll forgive me if I doubt your reappearance right before the divorce goes through is simply coincidence.”

“Oh my, no, of course it isn't. I might not care about Gabriel’s money, but allowing him to procure a divorce without being here to assert my rights would still be foolish, don't you think?”

“What rights?”

“Custody rights, of course.”

For a moment, Nathalie was speechless. “Of _Adrien_?”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “Who else?”

“Evelyn,” Nathalie said, her voice slow and extremely precise, “I don't know where the hell you’ve been for two years, but now I’m forced to assume it was some third world country which lacked proper medical care. Because you must have contracted some kind of brain parasite if you think for a _second_ that Gabriel or I would allow you to have custody of Adrien. And you must be even more deluded if you think a judge will have any sympathy or consideration for a woman who abandoned her family for two years.”

Evelyn smiled and began to walk slowly around the perimeter of the room, running her fingers over the shelves, infuriatingly at home in the place. “Yes, that's true,” she agreed, “my actions won't look very good. But considering how much worse supervillainy and magical terrorism look,” her grin widened, “I confess I'm not too worried about my chances.”

Nathalie’s brain briefly short-circuited. “You couldn't possibly prove that in court,” she finally said.

“So you _did_ know,” Evelyn said calmly. “Interesting. Well, you were always very observant, I suppose. I wonder what else you've observed.”

Nathalie’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Evelyn looked Nathalie right in the eye, tilting her head as she studied Nathalie’s face silently for a moment. “Oh, nothing,” Evelyn finally said, her tone breezy. “Anyway. That mousy little replacement of yours tells me my family’s at counseling, of all places. How _did_ you manage to pull that off? It must have been even harder than convincing Gabriel to give up being Hawkmoth. Which he certainly seemed to get into, didn’t he?”

“How on earth would you know?” Nathalie snapped. “You weren’t here.”

Evelyn scoffed. “As though I need to be anywhere near a place to observe it,” she replied. Nathalie bit back a gasp.

“It was you,” Nathalie said accusingly. “Last week, that presence Gabriel sensed in the middle of the night.” To Nathalie’s surprise, a brief look of disgust crossed Evelyn’s face.

“Unfortunately,” Evelyn said. “I was simply checking in before beginning to make travel arrangements. I assumed everyone would be asleep at that hour. If I’d had _any_ idea what you two would be up to, I never would have looked. I assure you, I have no interest in watching my husband get tied up by his secretary. Who knew Gabriel’s tastes were so… pedestrian?”

 _She’s trying to get under your skin_ , Nathalie thought to herself. _Why?_ “Well, you’ll have to let me know the next time you’re planning to spy on us,” Nathalie said calmly, as she slowly stood up, “so that Gabriel and I can endeavor to come up with something creative enough to satisfy your high standards. In the meantime, I suggest you get the hell out of this house, before I-”

“Nathalie!” _Shit_. “Nathalie, we’re back! Are you-” Adrien came bounding into the sitting room, stopping short about three steps in. For a few seconds, he was speechless. “Mom?”

“Adrien,” Evelyn said softly, and for the first time since she’d reappeared she actually sounded uncertain of herself. “How… how are you?”

“I’m…” Adrien stared at his mother for a few more seconds, then snapped out of his shock and ran to her, throwing his arms around her. “I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you too, darling,” Evelyn said, hugging Adrien back as tightly as she could and kissing his forehead.

“Are you back for good?” Adrien asked eagerly. “You’re going to stay in Paris?”

“I-” Evelyn looked up towards the door at the sound of footsteps. “Hello, Gabriel.”

Her husband stood frozen in the doorway. “Evelyn,” he finally said. “When did you arrive?”

“My flight got in this morning,” she replied, still holding onto Adrien. “I came straight here.”

“I see.” Gabriel took a few steps into the room, stopping next to Nathalie. His fingers found hers of their own volition. “What brings you back?”

“There are decisions being made,” Evelyn said. “I thought it would be a bad idea to allow them to be made without me. We have a lot to catch up on, I think, a lot to discuss.” Her eyes flickered towards Nathalie for half a second. “As a family.”

Nathalie took a moment to read the room. “I should go,” she said.

“No,” Gabriel said immediately, looking down at her, “that’s not-” Nathalie cut him off with a squeeze of her hand, then went up on her toes and gently kissed Gabriel’s cheek. She hated doing it in front of Evelyn, but Gabriel clearly needed the reassurance.

“It’s fine,” Nathalie said. “Evelyn’s right, you three have a lot to discuss. Besides, I have that errand to run for you. I’ll see you tonight.”

 

* * *

 

Nathalie rapped her knuckles against the front door, enjoying the sensation of hitting something violently perhaps a little too much. A minute later, the door swung open. Before the occupant could say anything, Nathalie shoved the wrapped-up Miraculous in his face. “Here,” she said harshly. “This is yours too, I guess.”

Blinking, Fu gently took the item from her and began to unwrap it. Once he saw what it was he looked back up at Nathalie. “Once again, Miss Sancoeur, I am in awe. Please, come in.” He stepped aside and Nathalie followed. “You have impeccable timing; I just finished brewing a pot of tea.” Nathalie sat down at the man’s small kitchen table and accepted the mug he handed to her.

“The story behind this one isn’t nearly as remarkable,” Nathalie said as Fu sat down across from her. “Gabriel’s had it this whole time, apparently. It only just occurred to him why that might be a bad idea.”

“I see.” Fu studied Nathalie’s face for a moment. “Forgive me, but you seem rather anxious, if that’s all there is to it.”

Nathalie tapped her fingernails on the table. “Evelyn’s back.”

“Ah.”

“You said she was your protégée, right?” Fu nodded. “Do you have any idea what she might want, why she’d come back after all this time? Is she just bitter about the divorce? It’s not as though it’s our fault the marks-”

“Evelyn was never one for resenting others who took the things she didn’t want,” Fu interrupted. “Whatever her reason for returning is, I doubt it is as simple as spite.”

“Then what?”

Fu shrugged. “I couldn’t begin to guess. However, as a young woman she was always rather direct about her desires. If she hasn’t told you what it is she wants, I’m sure her actions will quickly reveal her motivations.”

“Well, she _says_ she wants custody of Adrien in the divorce,” Nathalie replied, “but that can't be it.”

Fu raised his eyebrows. “Why not?”

“Because… because she left him! Why would she suddenly start caring about him now?”

Fu sighed. “Evelyn is a complicated person,” he said. “But she is not needlessly malicious, and you can be sure she cares about Adrien.”

Nathalie laughed humorlessly. “I'll believe that when I see any evidence of it.”

Fu tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “One could easily say the same of Gabriel. Do you doubt he loves his son?”

“Of course not,” Nathalie replied immediately.

“Did you ever?”

“I…” Nathalie paused. “That’s a good point,” she admitted. “But Gabriel and Evelyn are about as different as two people can be. You’re talking about them as though they’re the same.”

“The faces they present to the world are very different, I admit,” Fu said. “But at their heart, they are very similar people. Too similar, perhaps, especially where their flaws are concerned. But Evelyn does love her son, I assure you.”

Nathalie sighed. “I wish I found that comforting,” she muttered.

“Oh, I didn’t intend it to be comforting,” Fu replied. “Goodness, no. Consider the things Gabriel has done because he loves his son, after all.”

Nathalie’s face went a shade paler, and she finished her tea without another word.

 

* * *

 

“You must be rattled to your core,” Nathalie said wryly as Gabriel entered their room that night. “You're actually coming to bed at a reasonable hour.”

Gabriel sighed and leaned against the closed door. “I am somewhat at a loss, I'll admit. I should be ecstatic, I suppose. I am clearly not suited to being a single father. And yet-”

“She knows about you,” Nathalie interrupted. “Knows what you were up to last year.”

“Yes, she managed to make that very clear when we were discussing things,” Gabriel replied, his face darkening. “It is fortunate Adrien took no notice of it.”

“What the hell is her angle, Gabriel?” Nathalie demanded, standing up and beginning to pace around the room. “It isn’t possible that she actually wants custody of Adrien, is it? After two years of not caring about him at all?”

“Calm down,” Gabriel replied, which earned him a glare from his soulmate that he pointedly ignored. “For now, what she wants is for us to be frantic, distracted. Don’t let her get in your head.”

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. “This from the man who went full supervillain over her,” she said, annoyed. “That's awfully philosophical of you, considering.”

“Oh, I would have been a complete disaster a year ago,” Gabriel agreed. “But since then, a rather remarkable woman managed to show me exactly how foolish it was, to waste effort or energy on someone who had no interest in me or my family.”

“Well, I’d love to be able to magically stop thinking about what Evelyn is up to, but unfortunately it’s not that-” Nathalie stopped talking abruptly as Gabriel reached out and grabbed her shoulder mid-pace, then slid his hand from her shoulder down to the small of her back, gently pulling her towards him.

“If you require assistance,” he said softly, “I will gladly fill your mind with other distractions.”

“Oh, really?” Nathalie asked, not giving ground. “Where? On the bed you shared with her for fifteen years?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, then bent down and gently kissed Nathalie’s cheek. “That was petty, even for you,” he murmured. “If it’s the bed that’s bothering you, I can have it replaced first thing tomorrow. Or we could move to any one of the guest rooms in this house, if you’d prefer.”

“Oh, what’s the point,” Nathalie snapped. “She can watch us just as easily in one of the guest rooms as she can in here, can’t she?”

“Let her watch.” Gabriel kissed her cheek again, then moved to her neck. Nathalie felt her knees go a bit weak, felt herself melting under Gabriel’s touch, despite herself.

“Don't pretend you're not just as worked up as I am over this,” Nathalie muttered, not willing to let go of her frustrations just yet. “You must be-oh!” Without her noticing, Gabriel had bent down just a little further, put an arm behind her knees, and quite literally swept Nathalie off her feet. Before she had the chance to say anything further, he'd carried her to the bed and carefully  laid her down.

“I'm beside myself,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly, leaning over Nathalie. “I have never been any kind of match for Evelyn.” He began to unbutton Nathalie’s blouse, placing a soft kiss under each one as he did so. “Things are different now, though,” he continued, as he reached the last button. “Do you know why?”

Nathalie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Enlighten me.” In response, Gabriel slid the open blouse off Nathalie’s shoulders, then deftly flipped the woman onto her stomach.

“This,” he whispered, tracing his finger over his signature on Nathalie’s back.

Now Nathalie did roll her eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake, Gabriel, I thought you were the one person I could count on to not build up these infernal things, the one person who understood they're not a magical guarantee of anything.”

Gabriel kissed her shoulder. “True,” he admitted. “But however you or I feel about them, the rules of our world still state that these marks mean we belong to each other. Nothing supersedes this bond in the eyes of society. Whether that's wise or not, it still is. There is no way Evelyn can separate us, no magic she could have possibly learned that would overrule this. Whatever she throws at us, she cannot stop us from facing it together.”


	3. Chapter 3

Nathalie slowly awoke to the sensation of her earlobe being bitten lightly. “Mmm,” she murmured sleepily, “that’s nice. Why don’t you wake me up like that more often?”

“I’d have to wake up before you,” Gabriel murmured back, “and this might be the first time that’s actually happened. Trouble sleeping?”

“Mmm. Yeah.” As Nathalie woke up fully, she remembered the thoughts that had plagued her late into the night, and she sighed. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“You’re quite worried about this meeting, considering you’re not even attending.”

“I’m worried it’s happening at all,” Nathalie said. “I’m worried that whatever Evelyn’s plan is, it’s moving forward and we’re no closer to figuring out what it actually is. She’s been back for almost a month now, biding her time, getting closer and closer to Adrien, and we-”

“Shh.” Gabriel kissed Nathalie’s temple. “Nothing’s being decided today. It’s only one mediator, no lawyers. We’ll just be talking. Perhaps I’ll actually find out what Evelyn’s hoping to get out of all this.” Nathalie scoffed. “I have to leave soon,” he continued apologetically. “Adrien has a photo shoot at ten thirty. I’d appreciate it if you took him.”

Nathalie rolled onto her stomach and wrapped an arm around Gabriel’s bare chest. “I’m not your assistant anymore,” she teased.

“No,” Gabriel agreed, running his fingertips idly over Nathalie’s shoulders, slowly winding his way towards the signature on her back. “But he might also be anxious about this meeting. I’d prefer it if he was with family.”

Nathalie blushed at the compliment. “Do my ears deceive me, or did Gabriel Agreste just actually anticipate his son having an emotion?” she asked, and Gabriel rolled his eyes. “There might be hope for you after all.”

 

* * *

 

If Adrien was anxious that morning, he hid it well. Of course, he was good at hiding his emotions, even Nathalie could tell that. He seemed perfectly relaxed on the way to the studio, though, and happy enough to have Nathalie’s company. “Are you staying?” he asked.

“How long is the shoot?” Nathalie asked. Adrien shrugged.

“A couple of hours probably,” he said. “We’d still be back before Father gets home, I think.”

Nathalie shrugged. “In that case, I suppose I might as well…” she trailed off suddenly, and for a few moments Adrien just looked at her.

“Nathalie?”

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “I just remembered something I should get done. I’ll pick you up though, all right?”

“Sure, Nat,” Adrien said easily.

Until Adrien had brought it up, Nathalie hadn’t given a second thought to staying and waiting. There was almost nothing she needed to do that couldn’t be done through her smartphone, after all, and she was happy to spend time with Adrien, even if his attention wouldn’t be on her. A part of her actually missed this, taking the boy to appointments, watching over him. But when he mentioned that his parents would both be tied up for a few hours at least, a sudden impulse came over Nathalie.

 _Maybe some good will come out of this whole damned mediator business after all_ , she thought to herself as she dropped Adrien off, waved goodbye, and immediately began driving towards Le Grand Paris.

 

* * *

 

Nathalie was recognized the second she stepped inside the lobby, to her chagrin. “Miss Sancoeur! How lovely to see you again,” one of the hotel’s staff immediately began gushing as he approached her. “Is there any way I can assist you today?”

“I need to go up to,” Nathalie forced herself to say it without making a face, “Mrs. Agreste’s room. I believe she’s been staying here since returning to Paris, yes?”

“Why, yes,” the man said, “but I’m afraid you’ve missed her, she’s out for the morning.”

“Of course she is,” Nathalie snapped impatiently. “If she was still in, there wouldn’t have been any reason to send me, would there? She’s at a meeting with Mr. Agreste, an important one, and she accidentally left a vital document behind. I’m here to fetch it.”

“I see,” the man said. “Of course, please follow me.” As Nathalie followed him to the elevator, she allowed herself a moment to feel grateful she wasn’t in charge of such an incompetent employee herself. He seemed slightly confused, to his credit, but far more concerned with not upsetting Nathalie than with taking even the simplest measures, such as calling Evelyn first, to verify Nathalie’s extremely suspicious story.

They reached Evelyn’s room, and the man immediately rushed to unlock it. “Will there be anything else you need, Miss Sancoeur?” he asked as Nathalie took a step inside the room.

“No,” Nathalie said curtly, “that’s quite enough, thank you.” She had to keep her jaw from dropping as the man simply bowed in response and then _left her alone in the room_. Shaking her head, Nathalie shut the door behind her and began looking around.

She wasn’t expecting anything to be incredibly obvious at first glance, of course. But if there were any clues to be had about what Evelyn was really about, they’d be in here. Nathalie had a solid hour and a half window to search, maybe more. She could afford to take her time. She slowly circled through the suite, not touching anything. Evelyn kept the place immaculate, Nathalie had to admit. No stray pieces of laundry, no papers or litter lying about. There was almost no indication, in fact, that anyone was staying in the room at all.

On Nathalie’s second pass-through, she noticed a small chest sitting next to the phone on the room’s small desk at the back. It was solid black and fit in so well with the other items on the desk that Nathalie had initially ignored it. Upon closer inspection, however, Nathalie noticed it had an odd, shimmery look to it, and that her eyes kept sliding away from it if she didn’t focus on keeping them fixed on the chest itself.

Magic.

Nathalie bent down over the small chest, examined it for a moment, then went to open the lid.

The second her hands touched the sides, a burning pain shot through her palms. Biting back a scream, Nathalie instinctively tried to pull away and found she was stuck. Try as she might, she could not pull her hands off of the chest. Next she tried stepping away with it, thinking she might carry the chest away with her, leave the room and regroup elsewhere, but that too was futile-the chest would not budge from its spot on the desk. _You have got to be kidding me_ , Nathalie thought to herself. She took a deep breath, awkwardly moved into as comfortable a position as she could manage, and tried her best to focus on anything other than the pain.

Nathalie had no idea how long she was stuck there, with no clocks in sight and her unable to check her smartphone, but finally she heard the hotel room’s door open. She allowed herself a quick moment of relief that she’d at least managed to keep from crying, that this wasn’t going to be quite as embarrassing as it might have been, before steeling herself. She heard slow, precise footsteps approach from behind, and then a soft, almost weary sigh.

“Nathalie,” Evelyn said. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Hello, Evelyn,” Nathalie said, keeping her voice level.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s a bad idea to go snooping through a sorceress’ things?” Evelyn asked. “What kind of idiot do you take me for, that you thought you could just walk in here?”

“Admittedly, I did not put as much thought into this plan as I might have.”

Evelyn circled around, and finally Nathalie could look her in the eye. Her expression was calm, but her jaw was slightly clenched. “What were you looking for?”

“Oh,” Nathalie said casually, “you know. Just trying to figure out what you want.”

“You could ask.”

“What do you want, Evelyn?”

“My son. I thought I’d been very clear about that.” Evelyn looked Nathalie up and down for a few moments. “Why all the animosity?” she asked. “Adrien certainly doesn’t mind having me back in his life. He’s overjoyed. And let’s not kid ourselves, Gabriel’s relieved I’m back, too. You’re the only one who has a problem with it. So what is it? Mad I broke your precious soulmate’s heart before you could get to it?”

To Evelyn’s surprise, Nathalie laughed. “You think I don’t like you because you left Gabriel? Please. His name’s on my back, and still half the time I think I must be crazy for not doing the same. No, I don’t like you because you left Adrien. Say what you will about Gabriel’s failures as a parent, at least he put _some_ effort in.”

Evelyn’s expression hardened. “Not that it’s any of your business,” she said icily, “but I left to keep Adrien safe.” Nathalie rolled her eyes, but said nothing. “My power was growing. It was attracting… unwanted attention. I didn’t think I could keep him safe, not for much longer, not at that rate.”

“You could have stopped,” Nathalie said. “You could have kept Adrien safe that way. But you chose power over your son, didn’t you?”

Evelyn leaned over so her face was level with Nathalie’s. “Yes,” she agreed, “I could have done that. I could have kept making the choice I’d made for the first thirteen years of Adrien’s life. Theoretically. But… oh, I know what people think about motherhood, Nathalie. Especially people like you, people who don’t have children, people who don’t have any idea what it’s like. You think it should be an all-consuming vocation, don’t you? That it should be enough, that nothing else in a woman’s life should matter at all. But trust me, Nathalie, no matter how much a mother loves her son, she can still only suppress her true nature for so long.”

“So what’s different now?” Nathalie snapped. “You’re clearly more powerful than you were two years ago. Are you just not worried about keeping Adrien safe anymore?”

“I thought I could trust Gabriel to keep Adrien safe,” Evelyn replied, ignoring the jab. “Obviously I was mistaken, if his little stint as a supervillain is any indication.”

“That doesn’t add up.”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have to answer to you,” she said, “and I don’t particularly care if you’re able to wrap your little mind around it or not. It’ll add up just fine to a judge, and that’s all that matters. I’m sure Gabriel will see that, and we can settle the matter amicably instead, outside of court.”

Incensed, Nathalie tried to straighten herself, then bit back a scream as the pain in her hands intensified when she thoughtlessly tried to pull them away from the chest. She took a moment to compose herself. “There is no way,” she said carefully, “that you _just_ figured out Gabriel was Hawkmoth. It was international news. You knew about the Butterfly Miraculous. You knew you _told_ Gabriel about the Butterfly Miraculous. Apparently you can spy on us whenever you feel like it. You figured it out right away, didn’t you? Yet you expect me to believe you left Adrien in the custody of a supervillain for an entire year with no qualms, and only six months after Gabriel gives the entire thing up do you suddenly have a problem with it?”

“All I expect you to do, Nathalie,” Evelyn said condescendingly, “is stay out of my way. Believe whatever you like so long as you’re doing that, and you’ll be fine. If not,” she glanced at Nathalie’s stuck hands, “well, I think I’ve made myself clear at this point.”

“Whatever you’re about, Evelyn,” Nathalie said, unfazed, “whatever you’re _really_ back in Paris for, I am going to figure it out. And if you think for a second I’m going to let you blackmail your way into full custody, if you think I’m going to give you _another_ opportunity to abandon that boy, you’ve got another-”

A flash of rage crossed Evelyn’s face and she waved her hand impatiently. Nathalie’s hands were suddenly released, but before she could take so much as a single step Evelyn had flicked her wrist again, and now Nathalie was flying backwards. She slammed into the wall with such force that the room spun for a few seconds. As Evelyn slowly walked towards her, Nathalie tried to move but found she couldn’t pull so much as a finger away from the wall. She settled for glaring as Evelyn reached her.

“Apparently,” Evelyn said, her voice filled with a cold fury, “you need this spelled out for you. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you're slow on the uptake, considering how long it took you to figure out Gabriel. So let me be _perfectly_ clear.” She took a step closer, and the invisible force pinning Nathalie to the wall tightened, making it difficult for Nathalie to breathe. “You can have Gabriel. You can have the mansion, the money, none of it means a goddamn thing to me. Hell, I'll even let you play the cool stepmom, have whatever relationship with Adrien you like every other weekend, or on whatever holidays I deign to grant Gabriel. But if you try to get between me and my son? You will fucking _disappear_ , Nathalie Sancoeur. Just like I did. No amount of money, no fleet of private investigators that Gabriel can hire, nothing will ever uncover what happened to you. Only you won't reappear two years later, like I did. Do you understand?” Nathalie’s glare deepened, and Evelyn leaned in so that her lips were right next to Nathalie’s ear. “Say, ‘Yes, Evelyn, I understand’,” she whispered.

Nathalie said nothing, and the invisible grip tightened once more. “Yes, Evelyn,” Nathalie hissed, barely able to breathe enough to get the words out, “I understand.”

“Good.” Evelyn took a deep breath and regained some of her icy composure. “Then I have nothing more to discuss with you.” She waved her hand again, and before Nathalie could react she found herself suddenly transported to the Agreste Manor, standing in the middle of the foyer.

Nathalie had been teleported before, of course, back when Gabriel was still Hawkmoth. Those trips however, as unwelcome as they’d been at the time, had never felt like this. They hadn’t felt like movement at all, in fact, so much as standing in place while the world melted and reformed around her. This, on the other hand, felt to Nathalie like something had reached into her stomach and forcibly, unnaturally, yanked her through reality itself. She swayed for a moment, wondered if she was about to be sick, then thoughtlessly put a hand out to steady herself. The second her hand touched the surface of the table in the middle of the foyer, however, it was all pins and needles, unable to bear any weight at all. Nathalie staggered, took a deep breath, and stared at her hand. It occurred to Nathalie, suddenly and without emotion, that prolonged exposure to Evelyn’s trap might have been enough to cause permanent nerve damage.

Nathalie didn’t hear the loud and urgent footsteps echoing through the mansion, and she jumped slightly when Gabriel finally reached her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around frantically. “What happened?” he demanded.

“Hmm?”

“There was a loud bang. Adrien said you never came to pick him up, that he was unable to get in touch with you. And then I couldn't get in touch with you. What. _Happened_.”

“Evelyn…” Nathalie blinked, still staring at her hand, trying to focus.

“Evelyn? Evelyn said she was going straight back to her hotel room after we…” Gabriel trailed off, horrified. “You didn’t.”

“I,” Nathalie shook her head, trying to clear it. “I went looking for answers. I got… stuck. In a spell.”

“For how long?”

“Um… well, I dropped Adrien off at ten twenty, it took about half an hour to get to the hotel from there, so,” Nathalie finally looked up at Gabriel, her eyes unfocused, “what time is it?”

For a moment, Gabriel was speechless. “Don’t you ever do _anything_ like that ever again, Nathalie,” he finally said, and Nathalie couldn’t tell if he was terrified or furious or both. She took a step back defensively and immediately lost her balance. Before she could take another step Gabriel had closed the distance between them and put his hands around her waist, steadying her. Regaining some of her wits, Nathalie glared.

“Well, _you_ weren’t getting any answers,” she snapped, “and I didn’t think you were likely to get any from talking to that mediator. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You can’t confront her alone, Nathalie, you _can’t_ , she’s too dangerous.” Gabriel put a hand to Nathalie’s cheek, bent down and pressed his forehead against her own. “I told you I’ve never been any kind of match for her on my own,” he whispered. “We have to face her together, or we’re going to lose each other. I can’t lose you, Nathalie. I don’t trust myself if I lose you.”

“No pressure,” Nathalie muttered wryly. She sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It was reckless.”

Gabriel nodded, and some of the tension in his body eased. “Did you learn anything?” he asked.

“Just that I’ve been grossly underestimating her,” Nathalie said bitterly. “I don’t think she’s lying about wanting Adrien though, not anymore, not after she threatened to-” Nathalie stopped herself from finishing the sentence, but not in time to prevent the terror from returning to her soulmate’s expression. “Well. Anyway. I still don’t think she’s being upfront as to _why_. Why now, after all this time? Does Adrien… did he inherit her power?”

Gabriel shook his head slowly. “Her power isn’t genetic,” he said. “She was always rather vague about how, exactly, she acquired it, but I know she wasn’t born with any of it.” His frown deepened. “I suppose she might think Adrien’s old enough to take on as an apprentice anyway. When he was younger, though, she didn’t think he’d have the temperament for it, the ambition. I don’t know what would have changed that assessment.” Gabriel studied Nathalie’s face for a moment, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You should lie down,” he said gently. “Evelyn doesn’t hold back when she feels threatened. You need to rest for now.”

“I’m fine,” Nathalie insisted. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, then took his hands off her without warning. Nathalie immediately lost her balance again, and Gabriel’s arm was back around her in an instant. Wordlessly, he began to lead her to their bedroom. Nathalie found she didn’t have the energy to protest any further.

 

* * *

 

The feeling came back into Nathalie’s hands after a few hours, thankfully, and she’d recovered her strength by dinnertime. She apologized to Adrien, making some vague excuse about her errand running long that he accepted readily, with no follow-up questions.

Nathalie thought she’d have trouble sleeping, after everything, but the events of the day had worn her out in more ways than one and she slept like a log. She woke up the next morning with Gabriel still asleep beside her. She leaned over him, and after a few minutes of Nathalie’s undivided attention Gabriel’s eyes opened and gazed into hers.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Fine,” Nathalie replied. “Really,” she added, as Gabriel looked up at her skeptically. “Good as new, I promise.”

Gabriel sighed. “I didn't want to mention this yesterday, but Evelyn’s planning on coming over this morning. It was the mediator’s suggestion,” he said quickly, as Nathalie stiffened, “that the three of us start spending more time together. Breakfast, that kind of… there's time, I can tell her not to come. After yesterday-”

“After yesterday,” Nathalie interrupted, “you'll do no such thing. There's no way I'm having you give that woman the satisfaction of thinking she got under my skin. I'm embarrassed enough at how things went down.”

Gabriel frowned. “Very well,” he said reluctantly. Nathalie kissed him lightly, then got out of bed and made her way to the shower.

About an hour later, Nathalie was fully dressed and just putting the finishing touches on her bun when the doorbell rang. She exchanged a glance with Gabriel in her vanity mirror.

“Let me go down alone first,” Gabriel said.

Nathalie rolled her eyes. “I don't need you scolding her like some schoolyard teacher I ran tattling to, I can-”

“Nathalie,” Gabriel interrupted, his voice hard. “I am not sitting down with her without making some things clear first. I can't have her hurting you again, do you understand? Please,” his tone softened slightly, “I only need a few minutes. Keep Adrien up here until then.”

Nathalie sighed. “Fine,” she said begrudgingly. She got up and quickly kissed her soulmate’s cheek before leaving their bedroom and making her way to Adrien’s.

As Nathalie reached the door, she slowly became aware of an odd sound, a frantic rustling. Frowning, she knocked. “Adrien?” she called.

The noises on the other side stopped abruptly. After a moment of stillness, she heard the boy rush for the door, opening it very slightly. “Yeah?” Adrien asked. His face was red, his hair a mess, and Nathalie had never seen him look so frantic.

“Is everything alright?”

“Uh huh,” Adrien said, wholly unconvincingly. “Is, um, is Mom here?”

“She is,” Nathalie said. “Your father wanted to have a quick word with her before we headed down, but… Adrien, are you _quite_ certain there's nothing the matter?” She fixed Adrien with a direct and piercing state, and after a second he caved.

“Come in,” he said, defeated, as he opened the door. Nathalie took one step into the room and gasped.

“Adrien, what on earth happened in here?” she asked, as he quickly shut the door behind her. Nathalie looked around the room, stunned. Every inch of it seemed to have been torn apart.

“I, um, lost something. I was sure it had to be in here _somewhere_ , but…” he trailed off helplessly.

“Something important?” Nathalie asked, and Adrien let out a humorless laugh.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“What?” Adrien said nothing. “I can't help you find it if I don't know what it is.”

“You can't tell Father.”

“Adrien,” Nathalie said slowly, “you're really starting to scare me.”

“Sorry, sorry. It's not scary, it's just-well, okay, maybe you'll think it's scary, but it's not _bad_ , I promise, it just has to be a secret, okay?”

Nathalie crossed her arms. “Adrien, I will always have your best interests at heart, but I'm not promising you anything blindly.”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “That's fair. It's, um,” he took a deep breath, “my ring.”

“Your ring?” Nathalie repeated, confused. She knew the one he meant, of course, he'd been wearing it for over a year, but Nathalie was sure it wasn't a family heirloom, or even particularly expensive. “I'm sure we can afford a replacement, Adrien, there's no need to-”

“No you can't,” Adrien interrupted. “Not like mine. It's more than a ring. It’s,” he took another deep breath, “it’s a Miraculous.”

It took Nathalie a moment to register this statement, and then her face went pale. _You have got to be_ fucking _kidding me_ , she thought. “What exactly are you saying?” she asked, her voice overly precise.

“I'm saying,” Adrien replied slowly, “that I'm Chat Noir.”


	4. Chapter 4

“… went on patrol last night, and I didn’t detransform until I came back through the window, obviously, so I _definitely_ had it then, and I haven’t left the room since, I guess if it fell off and landed on its side it could have rolled just about anywhere, I was super tired when I got back I think I went straight to bed but I don’t remember it that well, I don’t know if I…”

Adrien was still talking, rapidly babbling as he looked around the room, vaguely retracing his steps and thinking out loud, but Nathalie was barely listening. She was reviewing every clue she’d gotten in the last eighteen months, every red flag she’d idiotically ignored. The sneaking out at night, the increase in appetite that couldn’t possibly match even Adrien’s active lifestyle, randomly disappearing during akuma attacks-oh God, _akuma attacks_ -and other crises, only reappearing after everything was over.

And then Nathalie remembered what Evelyn had said, the day she’d returned. _You always were very observant. I wonder what else you’ve observed_.

“… could have fallen off in the bathroom, I guess, I tried checking down the drain but I don’t know how to-”

“Evelyn,” Nathalie interrupted.

“Mom? Yeah I know, she’s here already, I’m sure she and Father are starting to wonder why we’re not down yet but I can’t leave the room until we-”

“Evelyn’s got the ring.”

“What?” Adrien raised an eyebrow. “That’s crazy, Nathalie. I know you’re… you know, not happy about her being back. I get it, Nino agrees with you, he thinks I’m forgiving her too fast, too. But even if you think she’s a bad mom, stealing a Miraculous goes way beyond that. It’s, like, _supervillain_ stuff. Besides, Mom’s been out of the country until last month, how would she even figure out what it was?” Adrien went back to tearing his room apart, muttering to himself as Nathalie stood there, rapidly weighing her options.

What the hell was she going to do? She hadn’t been a match for Evelyn yesterday, and that was before Evelyn had gotten ahold of the black cat Miraculous. Maybe Nathalie could get a Miraculous from Fu? He had at least two, the ones Nathalie had given him, maybe he’d lend her one. Maybe he’d give Adrien the other one too, just long enough to get his rightful one back. Would that make them powerful enough to stand against Evelyn? Probably not. Maybe Adrien knew how to get in touch with Ladybug, maybe the three of them could-

No. Nathalie shook her head, clearing it. No, dragging more Miraculouses into this situation was the last thing the Agreste family needed. Besides, Nathalie had never needed one to hold her own against self-important villains.

“Tell them I'll be down in a sec,” Adrien said distractedly as Nathalie abruptly reopened the door and left.

Nathalie heard low voices coming from Gabriel’s office as she reached the first floor. She threw the door open and slammed it behind her as Gabriel and Evelyn both looked over at her, surprised. Before either of them could speak, however, Nathalie marched up to Evelyn.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded. In response, Evelyn glanced at Gabriel and raised an eyebrow.

“Really, Gabriel,” she said lightly, “I don't see how you can say the woman is off limits when she insists upon throwing herself head first into these kinds of confrontations. I'm perfectly willing to remain civil if she is, but I'm not going to passively stand by and suffer this kind of abuse.”

“Oh, yes you will,” Nathalie snapped. “Someone needs to shout some sense into you, and it might as well be me.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Evelyn picked up her purse and began to walk to the door. “I have better things to do than stand around and-”

“Where’s the ring?” Evelyn froze, then slowly turned around.

“What ring?” Gabriel asked.

“She knows what I'm talking about,” Nathalie said. “Tell him. Tell Gabriel why you're really back in Paris.”

“Adrien confided in you?” Evelyn asked softly, and to Nathalie’s surprise she actually looked hurt.

“Of course he did,” Nathalie said. “For starters, he actually knows me. Where's the ring?”

“It's safe,” Evelyn said defensively, “which is far more than I can say for Adrien while he's been in the care of you two idiots.”

“Spare me your fake outrage, Evelyn, we both know you couldn’t care less about Adrien’s well-being. You came back for the same reason you left. Power.”

Evelyn’s eyes flashed. “How dare you,” she spat. “You don't know anything about me, and you have no right to stand there moralizing. You saw him every _day_ and you never figured it out, even after you started living here, and you claim you know Adrien? Even halfway around the world, only checking in every few months for a minute at a time, I was more attentive than either of you. Hell, Gabriel practically killed him more times than I can count! For a year! And you did nothing, you knew nothing, and you have the audacity to accuse me of not caring about Adrien?”

“Don't be ridiculous, Evelyn,” Gabriel said, annoyed. “None of my akumas ever came close to harming Adrien, I was very careful of that.”

Evelyn turned back to Nathalie. “Well?” she said. “You're the one who stormed in here full of righteous fury, are you going to tell him or do I have to do it?”

Nathalie looked at Gabriel. He mostly still looked confused, but there was a hint of panic in his eyes, that growing sense that he'd already sprung a trap and there was nothing left to do but wait for the walls to close in on him. “Gabriel…”

After a moment, Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Coward,” she muttered, before turning to her husband. “Gabriel, our son is Chat Noir.”

For a moment, Gabriel was too stunned to react. “That’s not possible,” he finally said.

“Of course it is,” Evelyn snapped. “Think about it for thirty seconds and you’ll come up with half a dozen clues you should have picked up on. I’m sure your precious soulmate’s already done that, hasn’t she?” Gabriel looked at Nathalie, and the gentle pity in her gaze was more than enough confirmation for him.

“I’m sorry,” Nathalie whispered.

“You’re sorry?” Evelyn repeated incredulously. “For _him_? After he-”

“Tell me to my face you didn’t figure out he was Hawkmoth right away,” Nathalie interrupted angrily. “Go on, you can’t. You knew it was him, you knew what he was doing, you _had_ to know it was about you, you could have put a stop to all of it and you didn’t.”

“I’m not responsible for Gabriel’s behavior.”

“Perhaps,” Gabriel said carefully, anger slowly seeping into his tone, “if you’d left me with _any_ other means of getting you to come back home and be a mother to our son, I wouldn’t have felt it necessary to-”

“Well, maybe if _you_ had been willing to compromise at all, I wouldn’t have felt it necessary to disappear quite so thoroughly,” Evelyn interrupted.

Gabriel scoffed. “Compromise? I’m shocked you even know the word, Evelyn. Don’t pretend you were ever, in over fifteen years of marriage, ever open to hearing what I had to-” Gabriel stopped speaking mid-sentence and looked suddenly at the closed door of the office, as though he’d heard a loud noise outside. “No,” he whispered to himself. “No, no.”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked impatiently. Ignoring her, Gabriel walked forward and threw the door open. For a moment the three adults in the room simply stared at Adrien in shock.

“Adrien,” Gabriel finally said, “I… I don’t know how much of that you heard, but-”

“It was you?” Adrien whispered. “That whole time, that entire year, the reason you never had any time for me was because you were _Hawkmoth_?”

“Adrien,” Gabriel said again, and Nathalie had never in all the years she’d known him heard Gabriel sound so horrified, “please, you have to believe that if I'd known it was you I never would have-”

“If you'd known it was me,” Adrien interrupted, “you would have just taken it while I slept. Like _she_ did. And then you would have kept attacking Ladybug, only I wouldn't have been able to protect her anymore. Tell me I'm wrong.”

“I…” Gabriel sighed, and let the lie die unspoken.

“You might have killed her,” Adrien added.

“No, I would have-”

“Do you know how many times she’s saved my life? From _you_?” To this, his father could say nothing. Adrien turned towards his mother. “And you took it,” he said. “At least Father gave up before getting his hands on it, but you actually stole it. How could you do that? What if there’s another villain, or a crisis, what if Paris needs me?”

“I don’t care about Paris,” Evelyn said immediately. “I care about you.”

“You left,” Adrien said. “You disappeared for two years, and you didn’t come back until you realized I had something you wanted, something you could use.”

“ _No_ ,” Evelyn said, horrified. “No, Adrien, that’s not…” she trailed off, then shot a death glare at Nathalie. “Nathalie’s completely wrong about that. I’m not going to use the ring, I swear. I just… baby, you’re going to get yourself killed with that thing, how could I let you keep it?”

Adrien thought a moment. “Was Nathalie right about the other stuff? Did you know right away, that Father was Hawkmoth?”

Evelyn nodded. “Yes,” she admitted. “Yes, I did figure that out.”

“So why didn’t you come back?”

“Because I _thought_ ,” she shot a glare at Gabriel now, “that I could trust him to at least make sure you were safe through all of it. When I realized you were Chat, I knew I’d been wrong about that, that I had to come back and take care of you myself.”

“By taking my Miraculous? I… is my safety the _only_ thing that matters to you? What about the entire city’s worth of people he put in danger, he terrorized? You don’t care about any of them? You don’t care that if another threat comes along, I won’t be able to protect them?”

“Frankly? No, I don’t,” Evelyn replied.

“What about me, then?” Adrien demanded. “Not just my safety, but _me_? Do you both only see me as some kind of precious, fragile _object_ to put in a glass case and keep away from the world? What about my happiness, my freedom, what about the fact that the ring you stole from me is the first thing that’s ever made me feel like I was actually alive for once?” To this, Evelyn had no response. Adrien looked back and forth between his parents for a moment, before abruptly turning around and leaving.

 

* * *

 

Adrien looked up as Nathalie entered his room once more. Her eyes fell on his duffel bag, lying open on the bed and about half-full of clothing. “I just called Nino,” Adrien explained. “He said I can stay with his family as long as I need to.”

Nathalie nodded. “I see,” she said softly.

Adrien threw another shirt in. “So… what, are you here to convince me to listen to Father’s side of it?”

Nathalie scoffed. “No,” she said.

“Then what?”

“You deserve answers, Adrien,” Nathalie replied. “Probably more than I can give you, but… and you deserve them straight, without any excuses or equivocation. So if you want them, ask away and I’ll do my best to answer.”

Adrien blinked. “Oh,” he said. He stared at her for a moment, then sat down next to his bag. “You knew?” he asked. “About Father being Hawkmoth?”

“Eventually,” Nathalie replied. “I’ve known for a while, at any rate.”

“When did you find out?”

“Last year. Right before breaking his nose,” Nathalie added, unable to help herself. She noticed the corner of Adrien’s mouth twitch up despite himself.

“That was you?” Nathalie nodded. “That was right before you two… and right before Hawkmoth stopped… so what actually happened back then? You guys got the marks, you found out about Father and, what, told him you wouldn’t be with him unless he gave it up?”

Nathalie let out a humorless laugh. “You’re the hero, Adrien, not me,” she said. “I don’t know where you get that from, because it’s certainly not from any of the adults in your life. It never even occurred to me to suggest anything of the sort back then. I simply told him I wasn’t sure if I was going to quit my job or not. And after the most awkward work week of my life, he handed the damn Miraculous over himself.”

“Oh.” Adrien was silent for a moment. “Did he say why he did it?”

Nathalie had been dreading the question, but she’d meant it when she’d said that Adrien deserved answers. “He did. He learned about the Miraculouses from your mother, before she left. He didn’t think anything less powerful would be able to locate her after she disappeared.”

“He wanted her back that badly?” Adrien asked, confused.

Nathalie hesitated. “Not exactly.”

There was a pause. “Oh,” Adrien said. “He said he was doing it for me, didn’t he.” It wasn’t a question.

“Something like that, yes.”

“Same reason Mom took my Miraculous,” Adrien muttered. He zipped up the top of his bag. “Look, Nathalie,” he said, “thanks for the offer, really, but I think I’m at my limit. I know I should probably be asking you everything I can think of… actually, I should probably be going back downstairs and doing whatever I can to get my ring back… but I just can’t deal with any of it, or with either of them, so I’m gonna go. And I know he’s your soulmate, so I’m sorry if this is putting you in a weird position, but if you could keep Father from coming after me, or trying to get me to come home before I’m ready, I’d really appreciate that, okay?”

Nathalie blinked, then took a few steps forward and gingerly put her arms around a shocked Adrien. “No soulmark will ever mean more to me than you do, Adrien,” she whispered. “Go. I'll handle your father.”

Adrien hugged her back tightly. “Thanks, Nathalie,” he whispered.

 

* * *

 

After a few days, Nathalie called Nino Lahiffe.

Nathalie thought Nino was probably just about the best thing that had happened to Adrien since he’d started attending school. To her surprise, the boy seemed to like her right back. They’d had something of an informal alliance for over a year now, ever since Gabriel had banned Nino from the premises. Nathalie had managed to smooth things over back then, and ever since they’d helped one another keep an eye out for Adrien.

“Hey, Nat,” Nino said, answering his phone. “Adrien not picking up?”

“No, I already checked in with Adrien earlier,” Nathalie replied quickly. “I wanted to… well, Adrien’s been away a little longer than I anticipated, and I didn’t want it to be too much of a burden on your family, so I thought I’d call and see if I could-”

“No way,” Nino interrupted. “Listen, my parents already have a low enough opinion of Adrien’s family. Trust me, if his dad tries to pay them for letting him crash here, it will _not_ go over well.”

Nathalie sighed. “Fair enough. I could still send over-”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it,” Nino insisted. “You have no idea how often this happens anyway, we almost always have a stray cousin or two hanging around. My parents love it. They get an extra dishwasher in the restaurant, another person complimenting their food at dinner every night, they couldn’t be happier.”

Nathalie blinked. “Adrien’s washing dishes?”

“Yeah, I think it’s been good for him. I mean, he was kind of a disaster at first, broke half a dozen plates, but he learns quick and it keeps his mind off things.”

“I can pay for-”

“ _Nathalie_.”

“Sorry.” Nathalie hesitated. “How is he?”

“Eh.” Nino considered the question. “Okay, I think. He’s not talking about, you know, whatever it was that happened.”

“I see.”

“I know you miss him,” Nino said, “but I think he probably needs a few more days.”

“Of course.” Nathalie sighed. “Thank you, Nino, I really… I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nino said. “You know I’d do anything for Adrien.”

 

* * *

 

A few days after that, the doorbell rang.

Nathalie hurried through the mansion, but Gabriel reached the front door first. A flicker of hope had caught in Nathalie’s chest when she’d heard the sound, but it died as she entered the foyer and saw Evelyn standing on the other side of the open door.

“May I come in?” she asked. After a moment, Gabriel stepped to the side. Evelyn glanced over as Nathalie approached, then ignored her and looked back at Gabriel. “Here,” she said, reaching into her oversized bag and pulling out a large envelope. Gabriel took the envelope, opened it, and shook out the contents. He stared at them wordlessly for a few seconds.

“You signed them?” he asked. “Why?”

Evelyn shrugged. “It’s a foregone conclusion,” she said. “And holding the divorce over your head didn’t get me what I wanted. I grew tired of it.”

“Does this mean you’ve given up on custody?” Nathalie asked, standing next to Gabriel. “You got the ring, now you’re leaving?”

“Of course not,” Evelyn snapped, her composure breaking for a moment. She took a breath. “I’m staying right here in Paris until everything’s sorted out. As for custody…” she sighed. “If Adrien ever forgives either one of us, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Lovely,” Nathalie muttered. Evelyn glared at her, then reached back into her bag and pulled out a small box.

“Speaking of Adrien,” she said, “and the ring, I have something for him, too.”

Nathalie narrowed her eyes. “You’re bluffing,” she said. In response, Evelyn deftly flicked the top open with one fingernail, revealing the familiar ring inside, before snapping the box shut. Nathalie immediately tried to swipe it out of Evelyn’s grasp but her hand froze mid-air, mere centimeters away from her target. Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“You have absolutely no sense of being outmatched, do you?” she asked, annoyed. “I’m giving this to Adrien personally. I have no intention of leaving it with _you_.”

“He’s not here,” Gabriel said, his voice tight. “Not since last week.”

“I can wait,” Evelyn replied, walking past Gabriel and heading towards the sitting room.

A moment after Evelyn left, Nathalie’s hand unfroze. She shook it, trying to get rid of the odd sensation, before looking at Gabriel. “Go keep an eye on Evelyn,” she said. “I’ll call him.” She pulled out her phone as Gabriel followed after his now ex-wife, and quickly dialed Adrien’s number.

“Hi, Nathalie,” he said upon answering. “Listen, I know what you’re going to say, and I’m almost ready to come back, I really am, I just need a little more-”

“Your mother brought the ring back,” Nathalie interrupted. “She’s here now. Waiting to hand it over to you herself.”

There was a long pause. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Adrien finally said, sounding more resigned than anything.

“I’m sorry,” Nathalie said. She wasn't sure, exactly, what she was apologizing for.

“I know.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien’s parents looked over as Nathalie opened the door to the sitting room and showed Adrien in. They both seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for their son to make the first move. Finally, he looked at his mother. “Well?” he asked. Sighing, she held the box out to him. He took a few steps towards her, took it, and quickly pulled the ring out and slid it back onto his finger. “Why?” he asked. “Why are you giving this back?”

“You were right,” Evelyn said softly. “I was too focused on protecting you. That isn't what you need. I’ve been thinking about it, and… maybe it's good, actually. I left because I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep you safe, if my magic attracted trouble, but with that you can keep yourself safe. You're not a child anymore, and you're clearly incredible with that thing, Adrien. Better than I ever was with mine. I could safely move back to Paris, be a part of your life again. If that’s something you want.”

Adrien nodded, then turned to his father. “And you?” he asked. “Why did you give up being Hawkmoth?”

Gabriel considered the question for a while, then looked over at Nathalie, still standing in the doorway. “I was about to lose Nathalie,” he said. “And she said some things that made me realize if I kept at it, I'd eventually lose you, too.”

Adrien looked back and forth between his mother and his father. “So… so neither of you stopped the terrible thing you'd done because you realized it was just _wrong_? Like, bad? For Paris?”

Evelyn and Gabriel exchanged a look. “No,” Evelyn said, “I don't believe that occurred to either of us.”

Adrien let out a frustrated groan. “Attacking me, taking my powers away, sending akumas after me, none of that was wrong because I'm your son! It would be just as wrong no matter who Chat Noir was!”

“I suppose,” Gabriel said, although he sounded skeptical.

“How are you both so… look.” Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. “Do you think, maybe, for me, you both could just, like, _try_ to take people in general into account before you do things? Not just me, not just the one or two people in the world you personally care about, but _everyone_?”

After a moment, his parents nodded. “I think so,” Evelyn said. “Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” Adrien said. “How about, the next time either of you gets it into your head to do something for my benefit, you run it by me first? ‘Adrien, I was thinking I'd abandon you for two years, how does that sound?’ ‘Adrien, I've decided to become a supervillain,’ ‘Adrien, I'm confiscating the source of your powers that you use to keep Paris safe’, that kind of thing? Because you two are both really, _really_ bad at figuring out what's actually in my best interest.”

“Yes,” Gabriel said slowly, “that's fair.” Evelyn nodded.

Adrien let out a huge sigh. “Okay,” he said. “I think… I think I can work with that.”

“You’re coming back home, then?” Gabriel asked, unable to keep the eagerness, the anxiety, entirely out of his voice.

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, I… don’t get me wrong, we still have a lot to talk about. But we can do that here.” He looked at his mother. “I can come see you too, I guess. Maybe stay with you on some weekends or something. Once you, you know, officially move back to Paris.”

For a moment Evelyn was speechless, and to Nathalie’s surprise she actually saw tears beginning to form in the woman’s eyes. “I’d like that,” Evelyn said.

“Okay,” Adrien said. He’d deflated, somewhat, now that he’d gotten so much off of his chest. Nathalie had often wondered, for years, what might happen if Adrien ever actually said out loud the things he was so obviously repressing, and now she knew. He was far more composed than she’d expected, but now that it was over he seemed a bit stunned, as though he couldn’t believe he’d actually gotten through it. Nathalie thought she could see him shaking, just a little.

“Maybe that’s enough talking for now,” Nathalie said. Adrien shot her a grateful look.

“Yeah,” he agreed, relieved. “Yeah, I, uh, brought my stuff back with me. I think I’ll go unpack now. I’ll see you guys at dinner.” Adrien left the room, and for a moment nobody said anything.

“Was I included in those dinner plans?” Evelyn asked, breaking the silence. “Kidding,” she added, grinning at Nathalie and Gabriel’s twin looks of irritation. “I’m going.” She stood. “I suppose we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other now, though. Cheer up,” she added, when Gabriel’s expression didn’t relax. “It all worked out, didn’t it? I’ll show myself out.” Evelyn turned and left, walking out the door that Nathalie had first watched her walk through over a month ago.

The moment she was gone, Gabriel sighed and sank into the room’s small couch. “Did it all work out, Nathalie?” he asked.

“Better than I thought it would, I suppose,” Nathalie replied.

“My son is Chat Noir again,” he said slowly. “Is it a bad thing that I hoped Evelyn wouldn’t give him the ring back?”

Nathalie walked over and sat down next to her soulmate. “Yes,” she said, putting an arm around his waist, “but it’s good you know that. We can work on it.”

“As though I didn’t worry about that boy enough as it was.”

Nathalie looked up at him. “Believe me, I understand,” she said. “When Adrien first told me, I was terrified. But Evelyn was right.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Evelyn was right?” he repeated. “Who are you, and what have you done with Nathalie Sancoeur?”

Nathalie rolled her eyes. “About one thing,” she clarified, “Evelyn was right about one thing. Adrien can protect himself now. Try to stop thinking of him as a defenseless child to protect for a moment, and just think about all the amazing things Chat Noir has accomplished. That’s your _son_ , Gabriel. Surely some part of you is proud?”

After a moment, Gabriel nodded. “Of course,” he said. “But… everything’s different now.”

“It is,” Nathalie agreed. She laced her fingers between Gabriel’s. “But if we’re careful, we can make sure it’s all different in a good way.”

“Promise?”

Nathalie stretched up and kissed Gabriel’s cheek. “I do.”


End file.
